Notes: This is
the standard assault rifle of South Korea (though it has not entirely supplanted
the M16A1). It borrows features from the M16, AK, and FAL, and looks very much
like a Galil. Internally, the K2 is almost identical to the M-16, but also has
some features of the AR-18.The
extractor is an improvement over that of the M-16 and AR-18; it is longer and
has a stronger spring, solving a problem with extraction which continues to
plague the M-16 and AR-18 series.
The three-round burst setting of the K-2 is unusual; if there is a stoppage for
some reason or all three rounds do not fire, the next pull of the trigger
(whether you have to clear a jam or not) will cause the weapon to continue where
it left off, if it still set on three round burst.The magazines are the same as used in M-16-series weapons.The construction of the K-2 is largely from aircraft aluminum alloy,
though the barrel and operating parts are of steel.The stock is solid and made from polymer, but is hinged and folds to the
right.(The shape prevents it from
getting in the way of the pistol grip and trigger.)Sights are similar to those of the M-16A2, but they also have tritium
inserts for use at night.

The K-1A1 is
a carbine variant of the K-2 assault rifle; despite the designation, production
of the K-1A1 did not start until about 2 months after the start of production of
the K-2, though it was designed concurrently with the K-2.Early production batches of the K-1A1 had a small problem; the production
lines for the K-2 and K-1A1 were not quite in synch.This meant that parts of the two rifles that were supposed to be
interchangeable often weren’t, because the measurements were not quite the same.This was corrected a short time after production started, but every so
often you will run into K-1A1 parts that cannot be used in a K-2.The K-1A1 uses a collapsible instead of a folding stock; this stock is
actually a modification of the stock of the M-3 Grease Gun submachinegun, but
has a more ergonomic buttplate.The
K-1A1 is also equipped with muzzle brake instead of the M-16A2-type flash
suppressor of the K-2.

The K-2 (but not
the K-1A1) was also produced in civilian/police versions for export, primarily
to the US.The DR-100 (also known
in the US as the MAX-1) was produced until 1994; with the enactment of the
Assault Weapons Ban, it was changed into the DR-200 (also known as the MAX-2).The DR-100 has become available again with the sunset of the Assault
Weapons Ban.The DR-100 is
virtually identical to the standard K-2, but its stock is polymer and does not
fold, has no bayonet lug, and is limited to semiautomatic fire.The DR-200 has a wooden thumbhole-type stock, no bayonet lug, no flash
suppressor, and was usually sold with 10-round magazines.Also after 1994, the DR-300 was introduced, chambered for 7.62mm
Kalashnikov and otherwise the same as the DR-200 in form.

The newest
member of the K-2 family is the DAR-21; it is essentially a K-2 turned into a
bullpup configuration.This allows
the use of a longer barrel than either the K-1A1 or K-2, while allowing the
DAR-21 to be only a little longer than the K-2 is with its stock folded.The top of the receiver has a MIL-STD-1913 rail for use with optics or
accessories, but the DAR-21 also has folding backup iron sights.The stock and most of the receiver are built mostly from high-strength
polymer, while the rest of the receiver is aluminum alloy and the barrel and
operating parts are of steel.The
DAR-21 uses the standard M-16A2-type flash suppressor.While the rifling twist of the K-2 and K-1A1 are designed for use with
SS-109-type ammunition, the DAR-21 uses an intermediate rifling twist rate of
1:9, allowing the use of SS-109-type and M-193-type ammunition.A carbine version of the DAR-21 is also under consideration for
production; this version will have a shorter barrel, but otherwise be the same
as the standard DAR-21.No firm
plans have yet been announced for its production, however.(I have used the designation “DAR-21A1” below for this version, but the
ROK Army has not yet announced what the designation of the carbine version would
be if it were produced.)Fielding
of the DAR-21 is not expected to be until 2009 at the earliest.

Twilight 2000
Notes: At the start of the war, the K-2 was pretty much a ROK-only weapon; by
2000, however, an estimated 3000 of them had been issued to US troops in South
Korea.Not as many
K-1A1s were issued to US troops, but some were.A large number of K-1A1s that were built with the wrong measurements
actually made it into the hands of the ROK Army, which caused a lot of problems
for ROK armorers.The DAR-21 and
DAR-21A1 do not exist in the Twilight 2000 timeline.

Merc 2000 Notes:
For the most part, the K-2 was not seen outside of South Korea, except in a form
modified for civilian use.As with the
Twilight 2000 Story, a lot of K-1A1s without the proper measurements made into
the hands of the ROK Army.While in
the Twilight 2000 world, this was done because they needed a lot of weapons
quickly; this was done in the Merc 2000 world primarily for budgetary reasons.Also for budgetary reasons, DAR-21 production was greatly delayed, with
first issue to troops not occurring until nearly 2013.

Weapon

Ammunition

Weight

Magazines

Price

K-2

5.56mm NATO

3.26 kg

20, 30

$791

K-1A1

5.56mm NATO

2.87 kg

20, 30

$754

DAR-21

5.56mm NATO

3.81 kg

20, 30

$767

DAR-21A1

5.56mm NATO

3.69 kg

20, 30

$743

DR-100

5.56mm NATO

3.26 kg

10, 20, 30

$589

DR-200

5.56mm NATO

3.33 kg

10, 20, 30

$573

DR-300

7.62mm Kalashnikov

3.61 kg

10, 30, 40

$817

Weapon

ROF

Damage

Pen

Bulk

SS

Burst

Range

K-2

3/5

3

1-Nil

5/6

2

4/6

49

K-1A1

3/5

2

1-Nil

4/5

2

3/5

20

DAR-21

3/5

3

1-Nil

5

2

3/6

50

DAR-21A1

3/5

3

1-Nil

4

2

3/6

42

DR-100

SA

3

1-Nil

6

2

Nil

49

DR-200

SA

3

1-Nil

6

2

Nil

49

DR-300

SA

4

2-Nil

6

4

Nil

54

Daewoo K-11

Notes: The K-11
composite infantry weapon was officially unveiled as the DSEI Military Expo in
2008, though some details of its design and development have been known since
2006.The K-11 was adopted by the
ROK Army in 2008, despite criticism that the K-11 was not ready for issue, that
it had too many bugs, and some reports that the troops who were to use it and
who had tested it were rather unimpressed with the K-11, and would have
preferred that the K-11 never made it into service.First service issue to the ROK Army was made in 2010, though it had
undergone advanced field testing since its service acceptance.A March 2011 report said that 15 out of 39 K-11s (including 7 out of 20
K-11s issued to ROK troops in Afghanistan) had serious defects, including
loosely-fitting barrels, defects in the striker mechanism, improper sealing and
weatherproofing of the laser assembly, and problems when switching the assault
rifle module from semiautomatic to automatic fire modes.Currently, issue has been suspended and the K-11s which were issued have
been returned to Daewoo; production has temporarily ceased and the returned
rifles are being used to try out concepts to improve the K-11.

It should be
noted that the UAE has ordered 40 K-11s, but are justifiably distressed at early
reports of failures of the weapon.
Nonetheless, their order stands.

The K-11 could
be easily mistaken for an American XM-29 OICW at first glance, though there are
several differences.The K-11 has
three modules (though they are not designed to be used apart): a 20mm multishot
grenade launcher, a 5.56mm short-barreled assault rifle, and an electronic fire
control unit, mounted atop the weapon.The K-11 is built in a semi-bullpup configuration; the assault rifle’s
magazine is in front of the trigger, but the grenade launcher’s magazine is
located behind the trigger, and the stock houses most of the mechanism for the
grenade launcher.The K-11 has two
selector levers; the first controls the assault rifle component and has standard
safe, semi, and auto positions, while the second controls the grenade launcher
and has safe and fire positions.
The same trigger controls the rifle and grenade launcher, but interlocks prevent
both from being switched into fire positions as the same time (one must be
switched to safe before the other selector lever will function).As the K-11 is rather cumbersome, attempts have been made to lighten the
weapon at least in a weight sense; the upper and lower receivers of the assault
rifle module, as well most of the grenade launcher receiver components, are made
from aircraft-quality aluminum.The
barrels for the rifle and the grenade launcher are of titanium, with steel
liners.The K-11’s assault rifle
component will work with any magazine which will fit into an M-16 or a
K-1/K-2-series assault rifle, but polymer magazines have also been designed for
it.The magazines for the grenade
launcher component are also polymer.

The assault
rifle component, also called the Kinetic Energy (or KE) module, is essentially a
modified K-2 assault rifle, with a 12.2-inch barrel tipped by a standard K-2
flash suppressor.This is the lower
module of the weapon; the grenade launcher barrel and part of the grenade
launcher’s mechanism are on top of the upper receiver of the assault rifle
module.The gas block for the
assault rifle module has an attachment for a simple bipod, with no adjustments
for cant or height; this bipod is a commonly-issued accessory.The K-11 has no iron sights; the K-11’s assault rifle module is sighted
through the weapon’s sight/computer module.The module has a modified polymer handguard which fits over both part of
the assault rifle barrel and most of the grenade launcher’s barrel; it wraps
around the bottom of the rifle, and the handguard is ridged on the sides for
grip.

The grenade
launcher component is housed primarily inside the stock, with the barrel and
some minor components being over the top of the assault rifle module’s upper
receiver.The grenade launcher’s
barrel is 15.95 inches, and it is tipped with a special flash suppressor.Though HEAT, HE, HE-FRAG, and HEDP ammunition is planned for the K-11’s
grenade launcher module, the only ammunition types currently available are TP
and the heart of the grenade launcher’s operation, programmable HE-Airburst
(HEAB).It should be noted that the
airburst capabilities of the ammunition are not useable without the K-11’s
sight/computer, which programs the special HEAB ammunition wirelessly an instant
before firing.Unlike the US XM-29,
the K-11’s grenade launcher uses a simpler bolt action – and a rather awkward
cocking motion is required before each shot, awkward because if the K-11 is at
the shooter’s shoulder, the charging handle for the grenade launcher is just
forward of the shooter’s face (on the other side of the weapon – the K-11
must be fired right-handed).

The third module
is the computerized sight, with a dynamic aiming reticle and a laser
rangefinder. The laser system is the one
which is causing the biggest problem right now – condensation tends to form
behind the laser lens, meaning that laser transmission gets diffused, and the
return laser beam is often not detected by the laser rangefinder, particularly
at night.When it’s working
correctly, the sight/laser combination gives the shooter a +2 to hit – without
the laser, he has a +1 to hit. The shooter’s range with the assault rifle module
is increased to 46 with both the electronic sight and laser rangefinder working,
or 35 if the laser is not working.
In addition, proper ranging of the HEAB rounds depends upon information the
computer receives from laser rangefinder, so if it’s not working, the HEAB round
works only by direct fire (in which it works like an HE-FRAG round, below), or
the shooter can try to estimate the range to the target and put into the
computer directly. (Impossible: Grenade Launcher).With the laser rangefinder functioning, the shooter can fire the HEAB
round so that it explodes overhead, to the side of the target (such as when
shooting at someone behind a wall), or into slits or windows (one level easier
with the assistance of the laser/computer) and still have it explode at
window/slit height.Fragments
produced by the HEAB round are chunks of tungsten cubes and have a penetration
of 1 in the hex they explode, in the surrounding squares, and the squares
surrounding those.Further away,
penetration is Nil.Damage from
each fragment is 5d6 in the square they hit and the surrounding squares, and in
other squares are resolved normally.When launched in airburst mode, the fragments spray in a 45-degree arc
down or to other side (depending upon how the grenade is set by the computer);
otherwise, it is resolved like any other grenade burst.The sight also provides a thermal imager and an image intensifier.

Twilight 2000
Notes: The K-11 is not available in the Twilight 2000 timeline.